Charter Granted for Minnesota’s First Black-led Credit Union

The Minnesota Department of Commerce said Thursday it granted a charter for Arise Community Credit Union in North Minneapolis, the first Black-led financial cooperative in the state’s history.

“The formation of this credit union and the dedication and work of Debra Hurston and her team, is an important step to give more Minnesotans access to community-led financial institutions,” MDOC Commissioner Grace Arnold said in a prepared statement. “Arise Community Credit Union’s charter is an exciting opportunity to remove historic barriers to financial services, to build wealth and to grow Minnesota’s economy more inclusively.”

Arise also became the first credit union to secure a Minnesota state charter in 23 years, the MDOC said.

“We genuinely thank the community members whose vision and grassroots efforts have made this achievement possible,” said Hurston, executive director of the Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP), which led the initiative to establish the credit union. To celebrate this historic accomplishment, the ABEP will hold a thank-you event on March 28 from 5-7 p.m. at the Shiloh Temple in North Minneapolis.

In 2017, the ABEP began its journey to secure a credit union state charter and other development projects to serve North Minneapolis, a predominately Black community with a long history of economic and racial disparities and concerned, proud residents who want to overcome these barriers. Community leaders believe that institutional economic power is crucial to address these inequities. Hurston noted there were long-standing challenges and negative experiences with other financial institutions – including payday lenders.

But in 2019, the ABEP pulled its state charter application after suffering a major setback. Its former executive director was ousted for alleged financial misconduct, mismanagement, gross negligence and other issues.

“[In] the first set of town hall meetings [in 2021], the community was extremely vocal about moving forward,” Hurston said in a 2022 CU Times interview. “They did not want us to keep repeating the story of the past. They knew about everything that happened – the mismanagement that took place – they wanted us to move forward.”

Since then, Arise has received more than $2 million in deposit pledges from the community. What’s more, Minnesota’s credit unions have raised in excess of $1 million in capital contributions and $4 million in deposit pledges.

Nearly 3,000 community members have already pledged to join the credit union. Membership will be open to people who live, work or worship within Hennepin and Ramsey Counties.

The newest member of the Arise team is CEO designee Dan Johnson, who began operationalizing the organization last September, according to the credit union’s prepared statement. He previously worked for Wells Fargo and most recently served as a branch manager with Geico Insurance.

Arise said it anticipates opening by the end of this year, when it will begin to accept its first members and offer services such as checking and savings accounts with debit/ATM cards, and consumer loans. The new credit union will initially provide digital-only banking services with plans to open a physical branch in about two years.

Arise is insured by the National Credit Union Insurance Fund, the NCUA said.